Secrets in the Shadows
by GuestCat
Summary: No one knew Moriarty had a sister...meet Sasha Moriarty AKA Iris Green, Private Detective. When Iris is ordered to work with the most famous sociopath,Sherlock H, she doesn't know what she is signing up for. Hindered by her previous life and her brother, she has to risk her life to solve the mysteries of criminal London (Eventual SherlockXOC) Includes before she meets Sherlock.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one**

 **Fact file:**

 **Name: Iris Green**

 **Occupation: Private Detective**

 **Family: No relatives. Parents are dead. Brother is a mastermind criminal.**

 **Appearance: Dark blonde hair, green eyes, hourglass figure.**

 **Previous employment: Unavailable**

Detective Inspector Iris Green stared dutifully at the dead corpse lying in front of her. The late member of the Chapman family lay on his side with a strange like calmness etched upon his features, his face sagging with the wear of almost ten decades. Breaking out of her analysing trance, Iris knelt on the worn cobblestone floor and began to uncover the secrets of the victim. Mr Thomas Henry Chapman was clearly an untidy man who cared not for his personal wellbeing- his face was unshaven and coated with the occasional splatters of crusted tomato sauce, his shirt was stained with an array of mismatched substances, his bitten fingernails were tinged yellow, his wispy white hair was full of dandruff and his trousers were excessively creased .A few lone cat hairs dangled aimlessly from Chapman's hideous shirt.

Now, there was the most crucial matter of the victim's death. Chapman was surrounded by a meagre pool of blood near the upper part of his bony chest. Iris swept a small mane of white hair to the side, to uncover a thin slit across the neck.

 _Findings: The victim shows no consideration for his appearance, neither for the tidiness of his apartment. Research indicates he was a lower class widow with only one living descendant-Miss Aubree Isabel Payne who is currently residing in Hartem Manor, Wales. Death was caused by a slit throat – cut jugular and carotid arteries (major blood vessels) which restricts blood from access to the brain. Almost immediate death. Pierced windpipe, thus cutting off wind-flow and preventing the victim from screaming. Death occurred a minimum of two days ago._

Having finished her analysation of the dead corpse, Iris slowly stood up, her face void of emotion. She smoothed down the invisible creases on her maroon skirt and proceeded to exit the small room, not before bumping into her least favourite member of the team. Rolling her eyes, she quickened her pace as the latter began to follow her.

"Ah Miss Green. I was wondering...,"

"Nope." Iris cut him off immediately.

"But you haven't even heard the question!" Mr Thomas Jones had an annoyed look upon his face as the detective cut him off yet again.

"Shut up Jones, you have asked me this question five million times before! It's no now and it will be no for the rest of my life. I am never going out with you!"

"Actually, I was going to ask you to take care of Mr Chapman`s case yourself."

Iris immediately replaced her peeved off look with one of fake guilt and began to speed walk away.

"And here I was, thinking you could only ask me that one line, "she muttered under her breath." Tootle to do. People to interview .Ooh look, it rhymes!"

And with that, the young detective set out to pursue her latest case. Of course, she wasn't as clever as Sherlock Holmes but she could certainly try.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys, sorry for the late your information,the first adventure is going to be based only on Iris , with no connection to don't fear! Im in the middle of writing their meeting and I hope to begin the actual S.H cases very soon. This is going to be a fairly short chapter!**

The drive to Hartem manor hadn't taken that long at all, a mere twenty minutes. At the far end of the long gravelled driveway, and surrounded by well-manicured lawns, the antique style manor nestled in a pocket of light woodland. The house itself oozed opulence with its ornate stained glass windows framed by deep mahogany and a majestic marble fountain which stood proudly in the midst of neatly trimmed flower beds of every colour. The house's whitewashed walls were barren of the ivy that clung to the walls of the older homes in the village, instead being furnished by hunched, disfigured gargoyles with grins that evoked notions of fiendish pleasure.

Iris sank deeper into the consolation of her fluffy coat, a frown etched upon her face as she felt the gaze of the gargoyles on her back. Ridding herself of her unnerved feelings, she trudged forward, plastered a hasty grin on her face and knocked three times on the large brass door.

Who opened the door, was an elderly lady wearing a floral apron and bearing a toothy smile upon her face. At her age, she would have one foot in the grave. "Good morning dearie. How can I help you?"

"Hello. I'm here for the interview with Miss Payne?" Iris asked politely, brushing the stray hairs that had escaped her bun into their rightful place.

"Oh my, that poor soul. She was very close to old Chapman, you see. Come in, come in .It's going to snow later, we wouldn't want you catching cancer from the cold now? Would you like something to eat, dear? Perhaps tea .Or picked eggs? Tea and pickled eggs…"The old lady began to mutter incoherently, leaving the foyer with the intent to be followed.


	3. Chapter 3

_Three long hours later_

In front of Iris, sat the only four residents of Hartem Manor, bathed in the warm glow of the crackling fire. They were seated in the grand drawing room which was expensively furnished with glossy wooden panels and rich tapestries of gold and green which hung from the walls like spider webs.

Deciding to waste no more time Iris began the interviews, changing her demeanour to more of a professional one. First to be interrogated was the cook, a haggard man in his fifties. His hair was a salt n pepper grey, his face tanned and his eyes bore the beginnings of crow's feet. Much to Iris' disappointment, Pierre Von Kant showed no motive to be the murderer of Mr Chapman and had been spending the day of the death in London. That was about the only piece of useful information Iris had weevilled out of him. Following the useless first interview, entered Mrs Schwartz, a rather peculiar woman with a cold glint in her eyes.

"I was away at me Grandmas, on the night of Chapman's death. Good riddance too, he was a pain, always doting on his granddaughter. Spoilt brat she is, only inherited this place cos of her husband." She retorted, picking away at her scabbed fingers.

 _Alas, a motive to be taken into account!_

With a rekindled interest, Iris began to fire away several more questions at the lady sitting opposite.

"I take it you didn't have much of a relationship with Mr Chapman?"

"What do you think? You stupid media people are all the same, always asking the same question over and over again, For your information, I'm the cursed cleaner for goodness sakes, when would that man ever have time to thank me?" By now, she was out of her seat and pacing the room. "This house blooming well aint even 'is!" With a final finishing glare, Mrs Schwartz swept out the room with a bang.

 _Current Findings:_

 _Mr Kant-No motives shown, however opinions might change after room inspections. Mrs Schwartz-Unhappy marriage, divorced after finding out her husband cheated on her several times. Referred to psychological treatment services, suffers from severe bipolar disorder. Possible motive to kill Mr Chapman-regularly was treated unfairly by him; manic depression could have influenced her decision._

Finally, was the one and only Miss Aubree Payne herself, a rather tall woman with rich olive skin and soft brown ringlets which would have framed her face perfectly, if not for the traumatic stress she was currently under and the lack of make-up. Aubree was a right mess, tears dripping down her face as she spoke, voice trembling and legs bouncing up and down.

"I'm so sorry. It's just… I cannot stop crying. His death has been a rather sad topic for me to talk about," And with that, she broke into another productive round of tears. "I must look ever so useless at the moment."

"That's fine, take all the time you need .It's a heartfelt matter and I am truly sorry to hear about your loss, but I simply must ask you some questions. Where were you on the day of your grandfather's death?"

"I… I was shopping for a new handbag-I went out at around 1pm."

After careful consideration, Iris brought the interview to a standstill. "If you don't mind, Miss Aubree, may I have a quick view of the rooms around the house?"

"That's fine…just don't disturb me whilst I'm in the lavatory, my face is a mess."

Taking that as her cue to leave, Iris exited the room swiftly, bumping into the frail old lady she had met earlier.

"Hello again, dearie. Sending the devil off to the pokey now are we? My, young people these days…" She said, losing herself in flashbacks of her past with a slightly unnerving grin on her face. Iris nodded her head for the sake of it, brushing past to explore the hidden secrets of Hartem Manor.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

After acquainting herself with the maze of corridors and narrow passages, Iris found herself in the quaint little garden. An apple blossom tree stood in the corner, pink flowers peeking from behind closed buds, surrounded by a myriad of colourful tulips and roses. Beside the paved patio, hid an antique bird house blocked from view by two worn deckchairs. An aromatic fragrance of fresh herbs filled the air, the source being the mini greenhouse to the left of the she felt comforted by her surroundings, Iris decided to sit down on one of the chairs and ponder events that had happened in her past- the sources of her nightmares.

She could remember walking home on a chilling winters day wrapped in her favourite pink and blue scarf.

" _Its cold has disappeared to God knows where and dad is still in his drunken state. James is waiting for me at the bus says we are going to get revenge on these boys- one is Carl Powting I think? Powers? Anyway with some poison that he had me locate with his 'followers'.Im not entirely sure its a good thing,revenge.I looked it up in my thesaurus and it said revenge was the action of hurting or harming someone in return for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands. Thats bad,isn't it? Anyways, I love my brother and I know he only wants the best of me- or does he?"_

Iris furiously wiped away some straggling tears before she was swept away into another memory.

" _Yes! I've finally escaped the clutches of my brother - I can now live freely. Ive decided to pursue a job as a detective- it definitely will help me wash all this blood off my , after my great escape, I was taken in by this guy called Lestrade. He is like a father figure to me, but I am avoiding any sentiment or bonds with another. I most certainly am not a creepy freezing snowman with his head in the clouds, such as the freak Sherlock Holmes, and thats why Ive been given another chance. Im certainly going to make my country proud... Oh God! I sound a little extreme and childish, dont I?Dont worry, Ill soon change that!"_

Whilst walking along the gravel path, Iris stumbled over an ornately decorated wooden box of rich taste and high quality. The contents of it came of no surprise to Iris- lo, behold it was a knife. Iris weighed the knife in her hand. It was no heavier than a kitchen blade but would cut on first contact, even with minimum pressure. Its serration were like waves, but not randomly so to compare with cheaper alternatives. The ridges clearly matched the ones on Mr Chapman's neck- now it was only the matter of solving the identity of the murderer.

Looking up to the building behind her, Iris noticed she had just found the knife in front of the balcony of Mrs Schwartz's room.

 _How interesting._

It was time for the inspections of the remaining two rooms-Iris had already checked high and low in Mr Kant's and the old lady didn't even reside at the Manor. She rapped quietly on the door of Miss Payne's room, before opening the door with a meagre creak and crossing the threshold. It was a 1980's nightmare of bright neon colours and furniture, each wall plastered with horrendous posters of celebrities. The room had been stripped of its original grandeur and replaced with a cheap shabby domain of a typical teenager. Nonetheless, Miss Payne was in her mid-twenties!

Walking around the room, eyes peeled for any tell-tale signs, Iris felt a slight disturbance with the floorboards she was standing on.

"Here there is a difference of 0.3mm and over here…" She spoke out loud, pacing towards three lone nails which were scattered on the floor. "Ah ha! Simple trick, hollow space underneath the floorboards! If I pry this up, we have some….newspaper clippings." Iris frowned at the scrunched up paper in front of her eyes, which was certainly not what she was expecting.

Finally, it was time to scrutinize the last resident's room and it was there, that all the pieces of the puzzle came together.

 _Chapter 5_

Iris lounged on the armchair, even which made a statement of wealth, ostentatious in its detail. The sound of footsteps alerted her that the murderer was close, the door slowly opened.

"I believe I am speaking to the murderer of Mr Chapman, am I right?"

"Indeed, you are correct. How did you guess?"

"It was quite a simple process of elimination. I must admit, I was taken aback when I learnt my first theory was false but after that, everything made perfect sense. My first clue was the knife found straight in front of Mrs Schwartz's balcony. When you rid yourself of something, you are in a hurry which you were in when you realized I was looking around the rooms. So, throwing it at a 90-180 degrees angle, it landed in front of Mrs Schwartz's room. Her room is to the left of yours and she is left handed; I noticed everything was positioned to fit her specific needs. The next giveaway -the time period in which he was killed. Frankly, I have asked around and the nearest shopping outlet is 40 minutes away plus you didn't buy anything either. There was no bag in the first place. However, when I interrogated you, there were no tell-tale signs of false words and so I assumed you had spent a lengthy amount browsing the shops- an hour, judging your personality and general appearance towards the public. After the interlude, you travelled straight to Mr Chapman's house which took 22 minutes due to traffic, according to my phone. There, you opened the door with your own set of keys, greeted your grandfather, followed him upstairs and when he had his back turned, killed him. You spent around twenty minutes at the crime scene, including disposing of any evidence and eventually you returned to your late husband's house in another twenty minutes. This took you till 3.45, your return, according to you housekeeper." Taking a deep breath in, Iris continued her explanation. "Now, the reason why you killed your Grandfather in the first place. I found those news clippings, the ones about him winning the lottery under the loose floorboards in your room. You were only in it for the money, not for anything else. All that crying was a façade, a rather convincing one at that. The bank fund is running quite low isn't it? Your husbands money is all being used for your own benefits and for the care of this house-it's the only memory you have left of him .It is true you had a close bond with your grandfather-you assumed that if he was killed, all that lottery money would be passed down to you ? Well I'm sorry, Miss Aubree Isabel Payne, but you have broken the Homicide Act 1957 and I have no options but to arrest know what,my brother would be proud of me."

That left Iris gasping for breath and the criminal stared at her with a shocked silence.

"Oh, one more thing-you're not the only living descendant, your cousin is. That money wouldn't've been yours anyway. Do me a favour next time-there is such a thing as research."

 ** __** ** _3 hours later_**

"Wow, you fancy a cuppa later or perhaps a girls night in with ice cream and soppy rom-coms?"Asked detective sergeant Sally Donovan,otherwise known as Sal, Iris' best friend.

"Sure thing,although..."Iris paused,looking at the case file in front of her. _Oh shit._

"What is it?"

"Read it."

"You've been requested to watch the freak?!SHERLOCK BLOODY HOLMES!?" yelled Sally,her eyes wide with a mixture of amusement and distaste.

"Yeah. Sherlock 'bloody' Holmes, here I come..."

 _ **Hey guys, sorry for the really slow had writers block and had no motoivation to update my story.**_

 _ **SO, to make up for the months, here was a long chapter including the past of Iris and a little more entrance of some of the characters we know and love.**_

 _ **Please review,follow or fav, it will certainly boost my confidence and make me update sooner, except from every 6 months.**_

 _ **Thanks guys,**_

 _ **A xxx**_


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